As many of you know, we were blessed to take a trip with Dan's parents and our nephew Layton. We had a blast - here are some notes from along the way! Sorry - some of them get kind of wordy! Oh - also, when you read R, J and L - it means, Randy, Judy and Layton : ) ENJOY!
Sunday, February 7th 2010
Well – really this blog should start on February 6th – but we’ll just include that here – you see, we were in {the} Milwaukee {area} on the 5th and 6th for a wedding {Dan’s childhood best friend}. He wedding was wonderful and the reception site was beautiful! At about 10:30 {pm} after we had eaten, danced and watched some great pictures from Jon and Melody’s life so far we had to leave for the cities. Our flight for Florida left at 7am on Sunday {today}. We made the drive, which went really fast {thank goodness!} and arrived at Chris’ house around 2:30am. Then we drove us to the airport where we waited until around 5:30 to get checked in {we didn’t sleep though…..}.
We were pretty excited to get in to the airport and get some breakfast {Einstein Bagels tasted great!} and then by the time we got to our gate is was about time to board the plane. Our first flight was just under 2 hours – Dan was out like a light before the plane took off and slept till we landed – I wish I could sleep that well on a plane!!!
Our second flight out of Charlotte didn’t give us much time for a layover, just enough to get off our first plane, get a wonderful Jamba Juice and get back on. This time I got the window since I don’t’ sleep as much ; ) We were just about to descend to Florida when Dan woke up and asked, “Have we taken off yet??” : ) Pretty cute huh : )
It was really fun to watch us fly in to Fort Lauderdale – we flew out over the ocean and then circled around just to fly back on land. Boy it sure was beautiful!
Let’s speed this day up a bit…. We landed, got our rental car and headed to eat and get groceries. Shortly after we started driving Dan noticed that our first rental car was making some noise, so he brought it back and got a new one.
While he did that, we the rest of us went grocery shopping, once Dan caught up with us at CostCo, we made a quick stop at Whole Foods and then headed down to Marathon. About 40 miles outside of Marathon, the hot air BLASTED on in the car. We couldn’t get it to turn off – and if we rolled the windows down it blasted even harder. This air was so hot, when I was holding a sheet of paper in front of the vent and my fingers were burning!!
We called the company {and thankfully made it safely to the resort} and around 10:30 that night, we got our THIRD rental car…. Hopefully this one will last all week!
{Mind you – we still haven’t gotten to sleep yet…..}
Once we got our third car, we finally got upstairs and went to bed!!! We were awake for over 36 hours!! {okay, with 3 hours of sleeping for Dan and a sporadic 1 ½ hours for me!} But we were ready for bed!!
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Today we obviously slept in – I think we got about 11 hours of sleep! We woke up, had a late late breakfast and took Layton to Bahia Honda State Park {Randy and Judy have a timeshare meeting}. We stayed there until 2:30/3 ish until Layton requested to go back, so instead of hanging out with us, Randy and Judy took him back and we stayed at the beach to explore : )
For this trip we decided that each couple would be responsible for 2 meals – so while at CostCo we purchased a big 4 pack of ground turkey – so we were in for a lot of turkey meals this week! Tonight we had sloppy joes….. mmmm mmmm they were good!!! Layton made sure everyone was thanked for making dinner “mmm, nice cooking {insert name}”
Dinner ended up being rather late, so we didn’t do much after dinner!
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
We slept in a bit late{r} again, but it felt good! We had every intention to wake up for the sunrise, but we decided that we needed more sleep! We knew we were going kayaking today, so I certainly welcomed the extra sleep! So after casually waking up and eating breakfast, we got our lunches packed and headed to Big Pine Key. We got to the kayak rental and after many directions from a local, Randy and Judy found it too : )
Once we got our kayak and got everything in and ready, we headed out to the windy, open waters. We had to cross the windiest part of our trip first and after having a couple of waves crashed into their boat, Randy and Judy decided to head back. We crossed to the other side and realized that they kayaked away back to the cars with the lunches!! So we crossed back over the windy part and got our lunches : )
Again we set out to cross the windy section {which wasn’t as bad this time} and started the process of circling No Name Key. On our trip around they gave us a guide that recommended certain things to watch for. We saw two spotted rays, lots of birds and fish – one of the more interesting things was the very last part of our trip…..
We knew we were coming up on a sunken lobster boat which was suppose to be a nice place to snorkel. We could tell it was because there were 5 or 6 boats parked there too! As we approached the area closer we could see that there were LOTS of birds perched on the sitting boats – and no snorkelers! As we get even closer we see that these boats are COVERED in bird remains – and I mean lots! Then we start to notice how abandoned all of these boats look. They appear as though no one has touched them in months! It was dead silent and just darn right creepy! The big kicker at the end was that the last two boats we the most creepy, one was halfway sunken and the other {just as dirty as the rest} had 2 big black flags on it – one on each side…..
Needless to say we were too creeped out to stop and snorkel so we headed across the way back to the rental docks. Once we got back we asked what in the world was going on with those boats. They lady explained that they are called “spoungers” - they live in their boats and travel around South Florida/The Keys. The parks their boats {in dedicated areas} live there and then eventually come on shore for a few months to live. We happened to pass by when they were on shore!
After our 4 hour kayak adventure we headed to the infamous “No Name Pub” where we were going to have ‘The Best Key Lime Pie’ – best part about it {other than how amazing it was!!} was that they weren’t one of those places that just self-declares that they have the best slice, we actually read about it in a national travel magazine. They did have the best smelling pizza, unfortunately we knew that we had to make dinner shortly, so we couldn’t indulge ourselves that much!
We made our way back to the resort and got dinner ready – Turkey Burgers!!! They turned out really nicely – we also had a lot of fun hanging out outside with Layton as he was finding it really fun to have us chase him to ‘the lobster’ : of those wooden/painted cut out thing you stand behind and put your face through – he enjoyed it {as in, laughed hysterically} when we would go behind and make silly faces. Especially when I’d close my eyes and get ‘surprised awake’ by a big ‘lobster kiss’ from Dan {or Layton!}. We had a grand old time : )
After our yummy turkey burgers with avocado spread we chatted for a bit then went to bed! We were tired!
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Today was Key West day!! I have heard so many people talk about Key West that I was just so ready to get down there and see what the hype was about ; )
We took one car this time – usually we have been taking two cars everywhere to be able to adjust to the schedule of an almost three year old. The drive went well and once we got in town we stopped at a beautiful beach!!!! We had a great lunch {Turkey sandwiches and avocado spread – see a theme for this trip??} and relaxed on the beach a bit. Once we were ready, we packed up and walked back to the car. On our way back to the car a man selling woven hats/baskets offered Layton a woven bird. He was pretty happy about that!
Dan and I dropped R, J and L off near the trolley station. We then went on a hunt for parking. After opting not to pay 22 to park for 6 hours in a lot, we found a meter parking spot on the street at a much better rate of $1.50 : ) We found some really neat wine for my parents {no grapes used, just Florida fruits!} we walked around the very elegant part of Key West. We saw some amazing homes, walked through a neat garden and wound up at some really cool Coast Guard ships! We didn’t have time to do the tour {our meter was almost out} but the ships were just SO big!
We got back to our car and decided to spend the next hour or so before meeting R, J and L for dinner at the State Park there {Fort Taylor??} Now THIS is what Florida/The Keys was suppose to be in my mind! The beaches were perfect, the sand was white and the palm trees were plentiful. Only downfall was that the wind was blowing upwards of 25ish miles per hour!! Whew! But we did find the perfect spot to watch the sunset that night : ) So we knew we’d be back after dinner.
We had planned on meeting/eating at ‘Sloppy Joes’ {recommended by a lady at the resort} but it was a pretty loud pub, so R, J and L found a place called the ‘Cheeseburger’ I had coconut shrimp for the first time – OH it was amazing! When the waitress said it was the best coconut shrimp on the island – she wasn’t lying!
After dinner we headed back to the state park and enjoyed lots of wind and a nice sunset : ) The drive home went well and Dan and I headed down to the hot tub where we met some really fun couples from Michigan and one from St Paul. They were very generous people and we also learned more about the ups and downs of being ‘BlueGreen’ time share holders. It was a great night : )
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Today we woke up at a more normal time and got ready for a relaxing day at Bahia Honda State Park {pronounced Buy-a-Honda, I wonder if anyone sponsored that island??} ; ) Judy and I did a lot of relaxing/sitting/talking while the boys played. After we had all eaten, we went on a walking adventure. We saw some pretty neat vistas, and had lots of fun along the way – especially Layton’s ‘babblings’ on the way back while he was on Dan’s shoulders : )
After this, R, J and L headed home to get dinner ready while Dan and I went to the end of the island to watch the sunset – is was a very pretty one! The colors lasted a long time! On our way back we swung by the grocery store an then on home to eat some wonderful ‘turkey bullets’ with a sweet potatoes/apple/cranberry dish – it was SO GOOD! I need that recipe from her……
Once dinner ended and Layton was in bed, we playe two round of Sequence – R&J won both ; ) Then it was off to upstairs to pack and sleep – we’re heading out of Marathon tomorrow morning!
Friday, February 12th, 2010
We woke up, got ready, packed, ate and said our goodbyes. We headed up towards Key Largo and took our time, wanting to find unique places to take pictures.
We were hoping to go snorkeling but were we wanted to go {out of John Pennencamp State Park} was cancelled due to weather. So we took the long route up towards Miami via Crocodile Lake, we had to pay $1 for their ‘toll’ but I guess it was a more interesting view than just driving on the interstate.
Quick side note – we ventured off the ‘tollway’ and found a completely gated city….. Our GPS could find the restaurants, gas stations and golf course in it, but we couldn’t get in! You had to live there to get in there! We thought that was weird….
So now we were back on the mainland and started the process of trying to figure out our lodging for the night. We had originally booked a place to stay, but when we got there, it wasn’t the kind of place we felt would be worth paying our $200 per night to stay at… so that is why we were housing hunting. The long of the short of it – after way to long of a time period of talking about it, we decided to bunk with R, J and L at their 2 bedroom resort in Miami Beach/Surfside. It was a GORGEOUS place to stay!
It took awhile to get there, not just because of rush hour traffic but also the largest boat show I/we have ever seen! I wouldn’t be surprised if there was enough money there in just boats to eliminate our national debt!! There were boats that looked like business offices on water, boats – okay yachts with a helicopter and landing pad on it, boats that could hold multiple motorcycles, speedboats or multiple jet skis! Whew!
Once we arrived we immediately went out took pictures of the waves – they were getting pretty big! {we were right on the ocean!} Dan got some pretty amazing shots – and I was on the lookout for any waves that got too close to his tennis shoes : )
Shortly after he was done we bolted inside because it started to sprinkle, right when we got in the doors – it poured! Before it did though, we did get to see some pretty awesome lightning bolts!
Apparently the storm caused a few accidents and delayed R, J and L’s arrival by a bit – but they made it!!! We had our taco dinner with yummy muffins for dessert; after which we watched the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics – it was wonderful!! So sad to hear that a young man from Georgia {the country} passed away this morning, our prayers go out to his friends, family and fellow competitors; prayers also that the rest of the Winter Games will be safe for all who participate.
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Our last day in Florida! This morning I was woken up by a loud cry – Layton’s. You see, our double room suite had ne room with a king bed {where R&J stayed} and another room with 2 double beds – which we shared with Layton. It was 6:30 in the morning, so I went over, picked him up and he came and slept with us for the next hour and a half. Although I didn’t really sleep at all in that time, I did really enjoy being his cuddle buddy : ) Lately I have been thinking that I would prefer waiting another 3 years to have a child, but after snuggling up with Layton, I was reminded of how much I would love a kiddo – whenever : ) If they come now, what a blessing, if we don’t have kids for another 3 years, what a blessing that time will be together. But I did enjoy all this time with Layton, he is such a sweet, charming little boy whom we love and adore being around : )
Anyways, check out was at 10am, we left around 9:30 to get down to John Pennencamp State Park for snorkeling at noon. We made it, and although the captain of the boat that took us out said that weather was such tat he wouldn’t pay anyone to take him out there – it wasn’t bad at all : ) We got out there, and although it was cold, we had a wonderful time. I couldn’t stay in a long as Dan could, my jaw kept locking up around the snorkel, and then it was in pretty severe pain – I was surprised since it had been almost 3 weeks since my surgery, but my mouth was open for two straight hours – very wide!
After snorkeling we drove off to Everglades National Park to fulfill one of our final goals for this trip – seeing alligators in their natural habitat. We went to the Royal Palm trail where we saw over a dozen different kinds of birds and fish along with probably 30 different alligators! Apparently I got a bit to close with our camera for one of the gator’s comfort – so he growled at me and ran away – trampling over other gators on the way! At least he had enough self control not to attack!! Whew!
And yet again after this venture we found ourselves figuring out what to do for housing tonight. SO – to save you from all the boring details, we ended up rooming with R, J and L again! Thanks guys!
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
So here we are, at the airport. We were up early again, we had an 8 am flight and got up at 5… earlier than we needed to but better than being late! We flew from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia where we now wait for our flight to Mpls – only a 3 hour layover!! We are just excited to get home and go get the doggies!!! Thanks Mom and Dad for watching them! We hope you had fun!!!
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